Jobs
North Atlantic Rail is a job-creator and a job-sustainer.
North Atlantic Rail will be a stable stimulus for high-quality jobs even before opening day, and funding will go to the communities where the project is built, benefiting communities who need it the most.
These 21st century high-speed rail projects will put thousands of people to work almost immediately, put components of this network into service within the first five years of the build-out process, and begin to realize economic development, construction job growth, racial justice, and climate benefits almost immediately.
Immediate Impact
Creating infrastructure jobs
Early Action Projects will be created through a careful vetting process that will reflect the investment priorities of each state.
These projects will create good jobs in planning and engineering, even during the ongoing COVID-19 economic crisis.
The 20 years of expected construction will create tens of thousands of reliable, high-paying construction jobs over twenty years as projects are built.
Use of P3 ventures will accelerate investments and project delivery timelines.
Anticipating Future Trends
Adapting to changing work realities
Major metropolitan areas need to adapt to changing work and living travel patterns, and 21st century passenger rail will provide the flexibility to do so.
The projects will increase employers’ abilities to move offices to smaller cities with lower rents by creating high-speed connections to larger cities for when those trips are necessary.
Employees will have access to a larger housing market because interconnectivity between both city centers and smaller towns will be increased and make new commuting patterns possible.
Economic Justice
Making economic mobility real
Construction, engineering, and planning projects will include opportunities for apprenticeships that prioritize training of people historically underrepresented in these fields.
This initiative will be an opportunity to direct a major portion of billions of dollars in funding towards minority-owned businesses.
Making this a priority will not only help create job opportunities for individuals previously left out of these fields, but also help ensure a diversity of perspectives are present from design through implementation of the many projects that make up the North Atlantic Rail initiative.
Network Effect
Growing the job base
The North Atlantic Rail initiative is seeking funds for a detailed job development study.
Historically, public transit has a large economic multiplier effect by reducing barriers to commerce and increasing access to affordable housing.
Areas with a high-speed rail network are associated with high paying jobs with fair wages, good benefits, and marketable skills.
Based on industry research, we expect North Atlantic Rail will result in hundreds of thousands of new, permanent jobs distributed across the seven-state megaregion
Fundamental to the program is an effort to partner with workforce development organizations to ensure new opportunities for residents of environmental justice communities and small cities and towns.
Full build out of a network of this scale could take 30 years. The work will be a source of high-paying construction and design jobs for years to come.
Rail Car Manufacturing is an advanced technology industry that creates demand for tech skill sets.
This initiative will create processes for procurement, supply chains, and skilled labor technology training on U.S. shores.
Rail maintenance also requires skilled labor, and will be a continuing source of good jobs.
